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18 dictionary results for: Block

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

block

[blok] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more flat or approximately flat faces.

2.	a hollow masonry building unit of cement, terra cotta, etc.: a wall made of concrete blocks.

3.	one of a set of cube-shaped pieces of wood, plastic, or the like, used as a child's toy in building.

4.	a mold or piece on which something is shaped or kept in shape: a hat block.

5.	a piece of wood used in the art of making woodcuts or wood engravings.

6.	Printing. the base on which a plate is mounted to make it type-high.

7.	a projection left on a squared stone to provide a means of lifting it.

8.	a short length of plank serving as a bridging, as between joists.

9.	a stump or wooden structure on which a condemned person is beheaded: Mary Stuart went bravely to the block.

10.	auction block.

11.	Machinery. a part enclosing one or more freely rotating, grooved pulleys, about which ropes or chains pass to form a hoisting or hauling tackle.

12.	an obstacle, obstruction, or hindrance: His stubbornness is a block to all my efforts.

13.	the state or condition of being obstructed; blockage: The traffic block lasted several hours.

14.

Pathology.

a.	an obstruction, as of a nerve.

b.	heart block.

15.	Sports. a hindering of an opponent's actions.

16.	a quantity, portion, or section taken as a unit or dealt with at one time: a large block of theater tickets.

17.	a small section of a city, town, etc., enclosed by neighboring and intersecting streets: She lives on my block.

18.	the length of one side of such a section: We walked two blocks over.

19.	Chiefly British. a large building divided into separate apartments, offices, shops, etc.

20.	a large number of bonds or shares of stock sold together as a single unit.

21.

Computers.

a.	a group of data stored as a unit on an external storage medium and handled as a unit by the computer for input or output: This file has 20 records per block.

b.	a section of storage locations in a computer allocated to a particular set of instructions or data.

c.	a group of consecutive machine words organized as a unit and guiding a particular computer operation, esp. with reference to input and output.

d.	(on a flow chart) a symbol representing an operation, device, or instruction in a computer program.

22.	Railroads. any of the short lengths into which a track is divided for signaling purposes.

23.	Philately. a group of four or more unseparated stamps, not in a strip.

24.	Slang. a person's head.

25.	Glassmaking. a wooden or metal cup for blocking a gather.

26.	an obstruction or stoppage in mental processes or speech, esp. when related to stress, emotional conflict, etc.

27.	writer's block.

28.

Geology.

a.	any large, angular mass of solid rock.

b.	fault block.

29.	(in Canada) a wild or remote area of land that has not yet been surveyed: the Peace River block.

30.	Automotive. cylinder block.

31.	Falconry. a low perch to which a falcon is tethered outdoors.

–verb (used with object)

32.	to obstruct (someone or something) by placing obstacles in the way (sometimes fol. by up): to block one's exit; to block up a passage.

33.	to fit with blocks; mount on a block.

34.	to shape or prepare on or with a block: to block a hat; to block a sweater.

35.	to join (the ends of boards or the like) by fastening to a block of wood.

36.

Theater.

a.	Also, block out. to plan or work out the movement of performers in a play, pageant, etc.: Tomorrow we'll block act one.

b.	to draw a floor plan on (a stage) in order to indicate placement of scenery, stage property, etc.

37.	Pathology, Physiology. to stop the passage of impulses in (a nerve).

38.	Computers. to group (contiguous data) together so as to allow to be read or written in a single operation.

39.	Sports. to hinder or bar the actions or movements of (an opposing player), esp. legitimately.

40.

Glassmaking.

a.	to shape (a molten gather) in a wet cup of wood or metal.

b.	to plunge a block of wood into (molten glass) to aid in refining the glass.

41.	Metalworking. to give (a forging) a rough form before finishing.

42.	Electronics. to apply a high negative bias to the grid of (a vacuum tube), for reducing the plate current to zero.

–verb (used without object)

43.	to act so as to obstruct an opponent, as in football, hockey, and basketball: He doesn't get many baskets, but he sure can block.

44.	Theater. to block a play, act, scene, stage, etc.: The director will block tomorrow.

45.	to suffer a block.

—Verb phrases

46.	block in or out, to sketch or outline roughly or generally, without details: She blocked out a color scheme for the interiors.

47.

block out,

a.	block (def. 36a).

b.	Basketball. to box out.

—Idiom

48.	put or go on the block, to offer or be offered for sale at auction: to put family heirlooms on the block.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME blok log, stump (< MF bloc) < MD blok; perh. akin to balk

]

—Related forms

block·a·ble, adjective

—Synonyms 12. impediment, blockade, barrier, stoppage, jam. 32. close, blockade, impede; hinder, deter, stop.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

Block

[blok] Pronunciation Key

–noun

Herbert Lawrence (Herblock

), 1909–2001, U.S. cartoonist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

block (blŏk) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A solid piece of a hard substance, such as wood, having one or more flat sides.
2. Such a piece used as a construction member or as a support.
3. Such a piece upon which chopping or cutting is done: a butcher's block.
4. Such a piece upon which persons are beheaded.
5. One of a set of small wooden or plastic pieces, such as a cube, bar, or cylinder, used as a building toy.
6. Printing A large amount of text.
7. Sports A starting block.
8. A pulley or a system of pulleys set in a casing.
9. An engine block.
10. A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
11. A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
12. Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
13. Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A stand from which articles are displayed and sold at an auction: Many priceless antiques went on the block.
A mold or form on which an item is shaped or displayed: a hat block.
A substance, such as wood or stone, that has been prepared for engraving.
1. A pulley or a system of pulleys set in a casing.
2. An engine block.
3. A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
4. A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
5. Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
6. Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A bloc.
A set of like items, such as shares of stock, sold or handled as a unit.
A group of four or more unseparated postage stamps forming a rectangle.
Canadian A group of townships in an unsurveyed area.
1. A usually rectangular section of a city or town bounded on each side by consecutive streets.
2. A segment of a street bounded by consecutive cross streets and including its buildings and inhabitants.
3. Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
4. Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
A large building divided into separate units, such as apartments.
A length of railroad track controlled by signals.
The act of obstructing.
Something that obstructs; an obstacle.
1. Sports An act of bodily obstruction, as of a player or ball.
2. Football Legal interference with an opposing player to clear the path of the ball carrier.
Medicine Interruption or obstruction of a physiological function: nerve block.
Psychology A sudden cessation of speech or a thought process without an immediate observable cause, sometimes considered a consequence of repression. Also called mental block.
Slang The human head: threatened to knock my block off.
A blockhead.

v. blocked, block·ing, blocks

v. tr.

To shape into a block or blocks.
To support, strengthen, or retain in place by means of a block.
To shape, mold, or form with or on a block: block a hat.
1. To stop or impede the passage of or movement through; obstruct: block traffic.
2. To shut out from view: a curtain blocking the stage.
3. To stop the passage of (a motion or bill) in a legislative assembly.
To indicate broadly without great detail; sketch. Often used with out: block out a plan of action; block out stage movements.
Sports To impede the movement of (an opponent or the ball) by physical interference.
Medicine To interrupt or obstruct the proper functioning of (a physiological process), especially by the use of drugs.
Psychology To fail to remember.
To run (trains) on a block system.

v. intr.

Sports To obstruct the movement of an opponent.
To suffer a mental block. Often used with on: I blocked on his name.

Phrasal Verb(s):
block out

To cover over so as to be illegible: block out sensitive information from a document before releasing it.
To repress (a traumatic event, for example) from conscious memory.

Idiom(s):
go on the block
To be offered for sale.

Idiom(s):
out of the blocks
From a starting position, as in a race or contest: The company has in the past been slow out of the blocks to adapt to consumer tastes.

Idiom(s):
put on the block
To offer for sale.

[Middle English blok, from Old French bloc, from Middle Dutch.]

block'er n.

Synonyms: These verbs mean to cut off from sight: a tree that blocked the view; a road hidden by brush; mist that obscured the mountain peak; skyscrapers obstructing the sky; a fence that screens the alley; a face shrouded by a heavy veil. See Also Synonyms at hinder¹, obstacle.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Block (blŏk) Pronunciation Key
American editorial cartoonist whose witty works have appeared in the Washington Post and more than 200 other papers nationwide. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 1942 and in 1954.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
block

"solid piece," c.1305, from O.Fr. bloc "log, block," via M.Du. bloc "trunk of a tree" or O.H.G. bloh, both from PIE *bhlugo-, from *bhel "a thick plank, beam." Slang sense of "head" is from 1635. The meaning in city block is 1796, from the notion of a "compact mass" of buildings; slang meaning "fashionable promenade" is 1869. Extended sense of "obstruction" is first recorded 1649. The verb "to obstruct" is from 1570. Blockhead "stupid person" (1549) was originally a head-shaped oaken block used by hat-makers. Blockade first used 1680, with false Fr. ending (the Fr. word is blocus). Blockhouse is c.1500, of unknown origin.

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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

block
noun
1.	a solid piece of something (usually having flat rectangular sides); "the pyramids were built with large stone blocks"
2.	a rectangular area in a city surrounded by streets and usually containing several buildings; "he lives in the next block"
3.	a three-dimensional shape with six square or rectangular sides
4.	a number or quantity of related things dealt with as a unit; "he reserved a large block of seats"; "he held a large block of the company's stock"
5.	housing in a large building that is divided into separate units; "there is a block of classrooms in the west wing"
6.	(computer science) a sector or group of sectors that function as the smallest data unit permitted; "since blocks are often defined as a single sector, the terms 'block' and 'sector' are sometimes used interchangeably"
7.	an inability to remember or think of something you normally can do; often caused by emotional tension; "I knew his name perfectly well but I had a temporary block"
8.	a simple machine consisting of a wheel with a groove in which a rope can run to change the direction or point of application of a force applied to the rope [syn: pulley]
9.	a metal casting containing the cylinders and cooling ducts of an engine; "the engine had to be replaced because the block was cracked" [syn: engine block]
10.	an obstruction in a pipe or tube; "we had to call a plumber to clear out the blockage in the drainpipe" [syn: blockage]
11.	a platform from which an auctioneer sells; "they put their paintings on the block" [syn: auction block]
12.	the act of obstructing or deflecting someone's movements [syn: blocking]
verb
1.	render unsuitable for passage; "block the way"; "barricade the streets"; "stop the busy road" [syn: barricade]
2.	hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of; "His brother blocked him at every turn" [syn: obstruct]
3.	stop from happening or developing; "Block his election"; "Halt the process" [syn: stop]
4.	interfere with or prevent the reception of signals; "Jam the Voice of America"; "block the signals emitted by this station" [syn: jam]
5.	run on a block system; "block trains"
6.	interrupt the normal function of by means of anesthesia; "block a nerve"; "block a muscle"
7.	shut out from view or get in the way so as to hide from sight; "The thick curtain blocked the action on the stage"; "The trees obstruct my view of the mountains" [syn: obstruct]
8.	stamp or emboss a title or design on a book with a block; "block the book cover"
9.	obstruct; "My nose is all stuffed"; "Her arteries are blocked" [syn: stuff] [ant: loosen up]
10.	block passage through; "obstruct the path" [syn: obstruct] [ant: disengage]
11.	support, secure, or raise with a block; "block a plate for printing"; "block the wheels of a car"
12.	impede the movement of (an opponent or a ball); "block an attack" [syn: parry]
13.	be unable to remember; "I'm drawing a blank"; "You are blocking the name of your first wife!" [syn: forget] [ant: call back]
14.	shape by using a block; "Block a hat"; "block a garment"
15.	shape into a block or blocks; "block the graphs so one can see the results clearly"
16.	prohibit the conversion or use of (assets); "Blocked funds"; "Freeze the assets of this hostile government" [syn: freeze] [ant: free]

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American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

block (blŏk)
n.

Interruption, especially obstruction, of a normal physiological function.
Interruption, complete or partial, permanent or temporary, of the passage of a nervous impulse.
Atrioventricular block.
Sudden cessation of speech or a thought process without an immediate observable cause, sometimes considered a consequence of repression.

v. blocked, block·ing, blocks
To arrest passage through; obstruct.

block'age (blŏk'ĭj) n.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ¹block
Pronunciation: 'bläk
Function: noun
often attributive 1 : interruption of normal physiological function ofa tissue or organ block due to carbon monoxide>; especially : HEART BLOCK
2a : BLOCK ANESTHESIA b :

NERVE BLOCK 1

3 : interruption of a train of thought by competing thoughts or psychological suppression

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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Main Entry: ²block
Function: transitive verb
1 : to prevent normal functioning of (a bodily element) <block a nerve with novocaine>
2 : to obstruct the effect of blocked by esterification> block intransitive senses
: to experience or exhibitpsychological blocking or blockage —block·er /-&r/ noun

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Investopedia - Cite This Source - Share This

Block

A large amount of the same security bought or sold by institutional or other large investors. There is no official size designation constituting a block of securities, but a commonly used threshold is more than10,000 equity shares or more than $200,000 of debt securities.

Investopedia Commentary

Blocks of securities are traded in what are called "block trades" and serve to facilitate trades involving institutional investors or other large investors who require such bulk trades to meet their needs.

Also spelled: blocks

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Wallstreet Words - Cite This Source - Share This
block

A large amount of a security, usually 10,000 shares or more.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

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Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

block
1. A unit of data or memory, often, but not exclusively, on a magnetic disk or magnetic tape.
Compare record, sector.
(2000-07-17)
2. To delay or sit idle while waiting for something.
Compare busy-wait.
(2000-07-17)
3. A delimited section of source code in a block-structured language.
(2004-09-29)

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Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

block

v. [common; from process scheduling terminology in OS theory]
1. vi. To delay or sit idle while waiting for something. "We're blocking until everyone gets here." Compare busy-wait.
2. `block on' vt. To block, waiting for (something). "Lunch is blocked on Phil's arrival."

Jargon File 4.2.0

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U.S. Gazetteer - Cite This Source - Share This

Block Island, RI Zip code(s): 02807

U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau

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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Block

Block\, n. [OE. blok; cf. F. bloc (fr. OHG.), D. & Dan. blok, Sw. & G. block, OHG. bloch. There is also an OHG. bloch, biloh; bi by + the same root as that of E. lock. Cf. Block, v. t., Blockade, and see Lock.]

1. A piece of wood more or less bulky; a solid mass of wood, stone, etc., usually with one or more plane, or approximately plane, faces; as, a block on which a butcher chops his meat; a block by which to mount a horse; children's playing blocks, etc.

Now all our neighbors' chimneys smoke, And Christmas blocks are burning. --Wither.

All her labor was but as a block Left in the quarry. --Tennyson.

2. The solid piece of wood on which condemned persons lay their necks when they are beheaded.

Noble heads which have been brought to the block. --E. Everett.

3. The wooden mold on which hats, bonnets, etc., are shaped. Hence: The pattern or shape of a hat.

He wears his faith but as the fashion of his hat; it ever changes with the next block. --Shak.

4. A large or long building divided into separate houses or shops, or a number of houses or shops built in contact with each other so as to form one building; a row of houses or shops.

5. A square, or portion of a city inclosed by streets, whether occupied by buildings or not.

The new city was laid out in rectangular blocks, each block containing thirty building lots. Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford Street. --Lond. Quart. Rev.

6. A grooved pulley or sheave incased in a frame or shell which is provided with a hook, eye, or strap, by which it may be attached to an object. It is used to change the direction of motion, as in raising a heavy object that can not be conveniently reached, and also, when two or more such sheaves are compounded, to change the rate of motion, or to exert increased force; -- used especially in the rigging of ships, and in tackles.

7. (Falconry) The perch on which a bird of prey is kept.

8. Any obstruction, or cause of obstruction; a stop; a hindrance; an obstacle; as, a block in the way.

9. A piece of box or other wood for engravers' work.

10. (Print.) A piece of hard wood (as mahogany or cherry) on which a stereotype or electrotype plate is mounted to make it type high.

11. A blockhead; a stupid fellow; a dolt. [Obs.]

What a block art thou ! --Shak.

12. A section of a railroad where the block system is used. See Block system, below.

A block of shares (Stock Exchange), a large number of shares in a stock company, sold in a lump. --Bartlett.

Block printing. (a) A mode of printing (common in China and Japan) from engraved boards by means of a sheet of paper laid on the linked surface and rubbed with a brush. --S. W. Williams. (b) A method of printing cotton cloth and paper hangings with colors, by pressing them upon an engraved surface coated with coloring matter.

Block system on railways, a system by which the track is divided into sections of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric signals that no train enters a section or block before the preceding train has left it.